Frequently Asked Questions

Registration and Teams

Is the challenge open to all higher education students, regardless of their specialisation?

Yes. To participate, you must be enrolled in a French, Belgian, or Luxembourg higher education institution. Amazon reserves the right to request proof of enrolment throughout the Challenge.

Can I form a team with students who are enrolled at a different university or school than mine?

Yes. You can form a team with students from other universities and schools as long as they're enrolled in a higher education institution in France, Belgium, or Luxembourg. The team must have 2 to 5 students.

I'm an exchange/foreign student in a French school or university. Can I participate?

Yes. Foreign students and non-French speaking students can join the Challenge. However, French should be the preferred language of interaction with the company in order to ensure a more adapted support. We therefore recommend forming mixed teams that include both French and foreign students. Webinars, on the other hand, will be presented in French. These webinars will also be open to companies. Finalist teams will be able to present their project to the jury in French or English.

Can all groups that apply take part in the Challenge?

All teams that apply will be able to take part so long as they follow the conditions of registration mentioned in the rules.

Do I have to fill out a form to apply for the Challenge?

You don't have to fill out a form to participate. However, you must register online via the website and comply with the deadlines and the conditions outlined in the Challenge rules.

One of the students on the team is currently doing an internship at Amazon. Can he/she participate in the Amazon Campus Challenge?

As the rules indicate, it is not possible to sign up if the student has any ties with an Amazon entity through an internship or work contract. However, if a contract with Amazon begins after the student signs up for the challenge, the student may continue to participate in the Challenge provided that the student's work is not related to Amazon Marketplace or that he/she does not share information about the Challenge with members of Amazon.

What happens to the group if a student decides to leave the team?

If a student wishes to leave the Challenge, he/she can do so by leaving their team. This can be done by going to My Account/My Team, then clicking the red cross button to the right of their name.

For the rest of the team: if a student leaves and your team remains in compliance with the participation criteria laid out in the rules, namely that you still have between 2 and 5 students, your team may continue to participate in the Challenge. If your team does not comply with the rules, the team will no longer be able to participate and will forfeit the Challenge.

The road to the finals

What will be our team's goal during the Challenge?

The student team's goal is to launch the company on the Amazon Marketplace. This goal may vary from one project to the next depending on the means and needs of the partner company. However, student teams will generally assist their partner company in creating its third-party seller account, placing its catalogue (a product sheet with images and descriptions) online and setting up processes for order shipment and customer service. The student team will also provide general advice to their partner company on e-commerce strategy. They'll do so by identifying and implementing tools the company can and should use to succeed on Amazon Marketplace.

What are the prizes?

The winning team will receive €10,000 to share amongst its members. The 2nd and 3rd place teams will receive €7,000 and €5,000 respectively to share among its members. The teams in 4th and 5th place will receive €3,000 each.

How will finalists and winners be selected?

At the end of the phase of sales online, the participating teams will ranked in order to define the 5 finalists. This selection will be made on the basis of the following quantitative criteria: (i) Revenue realized by the company on Amazon during the phase of online sales and (ii) the number of units sold by the company during the phase of selling online. Each group will be assigned 1 point on each of these two criteria for each group the next in the ranking (example: if 120 groups are involved, the Group positioning 5th in turnover and 2nd in number of units sold will be given) respectively 116 and 119 points for a total of 235 points at the end of the challenge.) The point count and raniking will be updated regularly on the website of the challenge. The names of the 5 teams with the best marks will be announced on the website of the Challenge and these teams, as well as each company accompanied by, will be invited by email to an oral presentation including the date, the place and the schedule will be indicated by email.At this event, each of the 5 finalist teams will have 10 minutes to present his project then 10 minutes to answer the questions of a jury. The jury noted the teams on the presentation of the company, the trade balance of the activity, the use of the e-commerce levers and the quality of the presentation. The jury will unveil the ranking of the 5 teams and therefore the winners of batch referred to in article 8 at the end of the presentations. This result will be followed by a cocktail.

How will semi-finalists, finalists, and winners be selected?

At the end of the online sales stage, 10 semi-finalist teams will be selected from participating teams. The selection will be based on the following criteria: (i) revenue and units sold by the company, (ii) performance ratings (defective order rate, late order rate, number of customer comments and customer ratings). Additional points will be awarded if the company uses the Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service, sponsored product campaigns and sells products on marketplaces at www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.it and/or www.amazon.es. Each of the 10 selected teams will be notified by e-mail the week of 13 May 2019.

The 10 semi-finalist teams will have to write a report between 14 May 2019 and 27 May 2019. Each report will be scored on a 10-point scale. The report should include: Answers to the following questions (40% of the score): - What was your initial strategy? Did you follow it and, if so, how? - What creative initiatives did you implement? - What feedback can you give Amazon about the third-party seller experience? An explanation of the Amazon tools and services the teams used how they were used and the results (40% of the score). In addition to the report, teams will be scored on the company's satisfaction with their interaction with the students (20% of the score).

4 June 2019: the names of the 5 top teams will be announced on the Challenge website. These teams and their partner companies will be invited by e-mail to an oral presentation. The date, place, and time will be specified by e-mail.

During presentations, each of the 5 finalist teams will have 10 minutes to present their projects and 10 minutes to answer questions from the judges panel. The panel will base their score on the following criteria: (i) presentation on the company, (ii) presentation of their report’s key points, (iii) the business results of the project, and (iv) the overall quality of the presentation. Following the presentations, the judges will deliver the results of the ranking and thereby announce the 3 winners of the prizes mentioned in Article 8. The announcement of the results will be followed by a cocktail reception

Can the presentation to the panel be delivered in English?

Yes. The 5 finalist teams can opt to present their project in English to the judges panel in the final stage.

What strategies and tools can be used to drive sales?

Initially, companies will have to offer their customers satisfactory product pages. See Amazon.fr's help pages and Seller Central for information about creating product pages and the rules for posting these product pages online. To gain more exposure companies may use FBA, Pan-European FBA, Sponsored Products, flash sales, and offer their product on Market place at Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.es and Amazon.it, etc. More information will be presented on these services in the coaching webinars.

We've created product sheets but need "approval" to access them. What should we do?

We want our customers to shop with confidence on Amazon. For certain products and categories, Amazon might require additional fees, performance checks and other qualifications. The categories listed at the bottom of this page currently require approval by Amazon.

Request approval: Sellers must meet additional qualifications to sell certain brands or list within certain categories on Amazon. Follow these steps to apply for approval: 1. Go to Seller Central. From the Inventory menu, select Add a Product. 2. Search for the item you want to sell. 3. In the search results, click the Listing limitations apply link next to the item. 4. Click the Request Approval button to begin the application process. To check the request status, go back to the Add a Product tool and click the Selling application status link at the top of the page.

FBA's fees replace the costs of storing, picking, shipping and after-sales service that the company would assume directly. Storage fees are based on the volume your inventory occupies and the time it is stored in fulfilment centres. Other fees are only applied if they are sold in a single package based on the size and weight of the product. These fees are available here and you can estimate costs using the FBA calculator here.

How much does it cost to return inventory items from an FBA fulfilment centre?

Inventory returns to a French address cost €0.25 per unit for standard products stored at a French fulfilment centre.

How do we build European listings on Marketplace?

If you signed up on Seller Central, you have automatically created your Amazon Seller account on the 4 other European Amazon Marketplace. Selling across Europe is a great way to further develop your shop on Marketplace. You can sell on the other European Marketplace very easily by activating the products for which product pages already exist on the other Amazon sites: "Expand Offers Internationally". You can use a drop-down menu to move from one platform to another in just a few clicks. If your offers do not exist on other European, you'll have to translate them yourself or using a translation agency. Find the Seller University video here.

The company doesn't have EAN codes. What should we do?

Product identifiers, such as a brand, Manufacturer Part Number (MPN) and GTIN (or EAN) code, are required to add your products on Amazon. These identifiers are required to add your products on Amazon*. That's why we ask you to specify them each time you create a product page. All this information is normally visible on the product packaging. Here's the first example. The GTIN (or EAN) code, usually 13 digits-long, is located underneath the barcode.

If you can't find it on the packaging or your invoices, we advise you to contact your supplier directly for the information. If you have trouble obtaining this information, you can contact GS1. Finally, if you sell products under your own brand, you must obtain your own product codes from GS1. GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit organisation that develops and maintains global standards for unique product codes. Amazon may make an exception to exempt you from providing the GTIN (or EAN) code if you have a trademark registered with INPI and if this trademark appears on your products. See how.

What happens if my team is not ready by the day online sales launch?

On 13 January 2019, all teams whose sellers are will see their products online. Teams who have not finished preparing their seller account won't be online but will be able to access online sales as soon as the account is ready.

The partner company

How do we find a company to partner with?

Searching for a partner company is the sole responsibility of the student team and is an integral part of the Challenge. To find a company you want to partner with, start out by using your personal network as well as your academic institution's network (partner companies, an alumni network). You can also reach out to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, incubators in your region or to participants in e-commerce trade shows and events ... You can also explore websites and social networks to find companies that already have their own online sales channel but are not currently operating on the Amazon Marketplace in your country. You can differentiate yourself by adding products that are not offered on Amazon. For example, you can use the Amazon search bar to check if a brand's products are already available on Amazon. A presentation on Amazon Marketplace is available to you to help you with your search.

How do we choose the right partner company?

During your search, try to favour companies that already have an e-commerce website and are likely to be interested in selling on a marketplace. If the company has a website, find out how many products they have online, the quality of their product pages, how competitive the website is and whether or not they have a customer service telephone number. These all indicate what kind of importance the company places on e-commerce. If the company does not have a website, ask them if they already have EAN codes and product photos and descriptions. This information will give you an idea of whether it will be quick and easy to place their products online.

Can I approach a partner company that already has an e-commerce website?

Yes. You can absolutely contact a company that already has its own e-commerce website or that is present on a marketplace other than Amazon Marketplace.

Can I choose a partner company that sells on an international Amazon Marketplace but not on Amazon.fr?

No. The goal of the Challenge is to partner with a company that has never sold its products on Amazon in your country or abroad. For example, if the company already has an account open to sell its products on amazon.com or amazon.it, you cannot choose it as a partner company. Be sure to gather as much information as possible before making your choice!

I found a partner company that told me it has an inactive account. Can I choose this company?

You can only partner with a company that is already active on the Marketplace if the company has never sold products on any Amazon Marketplace in the world. In this case, it is not guaranteed that the account will be free. If this is the case, we invite you to contact the Challenge team to discuss it further.

Can I choose the company I run or work for as my partner company?

Yes. You can partner with the company you run or where you are an employee, intern or volunteer as long as it meets the eligibility criteria of the rules and if you are a student in a higher education institution. You must form a team with at least 1 other student to participate.

Can I partner with a company that is in the process of being created?

Yes. As soon as the company registers as a business. But be sure that the company will be created and up and running in time to launch its seller account in January.

Can I choose a sole trader as a partner company?

Yes. A sole trader registered in France can serve as a partner company.

What are the conditions that govern the company's relationship with Amazon?

Prior to registering for the Challenge, each team is advised to inform the company it wishes to register as a third-party seller on the Marketplace of the Amazon Services Europe Business Solutions Agreement (BSA) referred to in Article 4.3 of the Challenge rules. A company's failure to sign the BSA will lead to the relevant student team's disqualification.

What happens if the company decides to stop selling on Amazon during the Challenge?

The company may decide to close its Marketplace account at any time. A Marketplace account can be closed in a few clicks. Contacting seller support and request account closure. You can also change the account from Professional to Individual. In this case, the account remains open but is no longer subscription-based. However, if the company decides to close their account before the Challenge ends, the team is automatically disqualified from the Challenge.

What can the company expect after the Challenge?

At the end of the Challenge, each company can freely decide to continue operating on Amazon Marketplace or to close its account. Seller support remains available to all companies. However, the seller account is only free until 30 June 2020.

What is the deadline to register a company on the Amazon Campus Challenge website?

We recommend that students find a company by end of November in order to have enough time to complete all subsequent steps. Teams requiring additional time have until the official deadline indicated in the challenge Rules, to register a company.

Educational curriculum

Does participating in the Amazon Campus Challenge count for course credit?

Amazon Campus Challenge does not entitle you to ECTS credits unless otherwise provided for by your educational institution.

How many hours per week should I allocate to the project?

The number of hours you allocate to this project will depend on the level of commitment you’ve decided to reach with the company and/or your educational advisor as part of a challenge and course integration.

I work for a university/business school/engineering school. How can I propose the Challenge to my students?

You can contact Amazon's School and University Relations Officer from the Amazon Campus Challenge website. To do so, fill out the contact form and select teacher from the drop-down menu.

Stay informed

If you are not ready to register for the Challenge but wish to receive information and tips by e-mail.